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Mpls school district faces $25M shortfall

The Minneapolis school district is facing a projected $25 million deficit in the next fiscal year.

Officials with Minneapolis Public Schools say rising healthcare and special education costs, combined with projected decline in federal funds is to blame for the shortfall. The district's budget for the 2014 fiscal year is $513 million.

The district's chief financial officer, Robert Doty, said they hope to focus the cuts on central administration and away from schools.

"One of our goals is to keep our cuts as far away from being direct cuts to schools as possible," Doty said. "But right now everything is on the table for review right now, that's the best way for us to look at this."

Doty said the district wants to balance its budget without dipping too deeply into its reserve fund, which currently sits at about $100 million.

"That may very well mean that maybe we structure ourselves in a way that has less people possibly, or just refocusing, realigning, there are a lot of different ways to do that," he said.